Ball point pen



April 15, 1952 J. F. THULL BALL. POINT PEN Filed Jan. 7, 194e NN N .QE

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INVENTOR JOHN F. HULL BY o Patented Apr. 15, 1952 BALL POINT PEN John F; Thun, st. raul,l Minn., assigner to Brown & Bigelow, St: PaulLMinn.

Application January 7, 1946, Serial No. 639,514

2 Claims.

My invention relates to a fountain pen which includes an ink reservoir held removable within the;` casing of the fountain pen. and provided with means for moving the unit bodily-in a `longitudinaldirection either forward or backward in the casing. The invention includes means for holding the ink reservoir unit in a forward di rection locked in writing position with the writingend. exposed out of the` casing so that the pen may be operated in writing.

This invention relates to a capless fountain pen where the ink unit supplies the writing inl; of a viscous character having a controlled surn face tension so that the ink will not leak out of the reservoir unit and so that the atmospheric pressure will act on the rear end of the ink unit to cushion the ink in the unit and permit it to be drawn by capillary attraction to the writing end thereof.

A feature resides in providing a clutch for holding or releasing the writing reservoir unit of the pen in or out of operating position. The clutch includes a sleeve release which may be operated against spring tension to release the clutch and by a second spring means the ink reservoir unit is adapted to be forced automatically into nonoperative position with the writing tip concealed within the casing.

These features together with other details and objects of my invention will be defined through out the specication and claims.

In the drawings forming part of the specication:

Figure l is a longitudinal section through my pen.

Figure 2 is a similar section to Figure l show ing the point withdrawn out of writing position.

The pen A is formed with a casing Ill which has a forward conical end II which may be removed by means of the threads I2. The rear end of the casing is formed with a sleeve i3 from which projects a collar head I4 which forms a clutch release which will be hereinafter more fully described.

The pen A is provided with an ink reservoir unit B which has a tubular forward end I5 in which a writing ball I6 is mounted. A collar spring I'I tends to force the ink unit B in a rearward direction in the casing ID.

The coil spring I8 at the rear of the ink unit B tends to force the ink unit B in a forward direction and also acts to hold the collar It under spring tension in a rearwardly directed position. The rear end of the ink reservoir B is formed with a rod I9 which projects through the collar I4 with an operating end 20.

The rod I9 is formed with an annular groove 2| in the same andthe sleeve I3 is formed with a ball recess 22. A ball 23 is mounted in a recess formed in the collar I4 and is adapted to act asA a. ball clutch. when operating, with the sleeve I3, recess 22and the releasingl collar sleeve I4.

Normally the ink. unit. B is held in a forward direction as illustrated' in Figure l when the pen Ais used in writing. When itis desired to close the, pen A (which is capless) it is only necessary to release the ball clutch 23 from its position illustrated in Figure 1 by pressing against the sleeve I4 which releases the ball into the recess 22 whereupon the ball 23 is released out of the recess 2! and the spring l1 will automatically kick the ink unit B in a backward direction in the casing IIJ to a position illustrated in Figure 2.

When the ink unit B is moved in this position, the rear end 20 of the rod I9 will project beyond the outer end of the collar I4 (as illustrated in Figure 2).

When the pen writing unit B is in the position illustrated in Figure 2, the writing ball I6 is concealed within the forward end II of the pen casing and thus is protected without a cap when not in writing position.

When it is desired to reset the writing unit B into writing position, it is only necessary for the operator to engage the end 20 and force it into the collar I4 against the action of the spring Il whereupon the ball 23 would be moved into the annular groove 2l and the ball clutch lock will lock the ink unit B in writing position as illustrated in Figure 1.

In this simple economical manner I provide a replaceable ink unit B for a fountain pen with clutch means for holding the same in writing position and with means for releasing the clutch to automatically kick the ink unit out of writing position. An air opening 24 is formed in the rear of the ink unit B to admit atmospheric air pressure to the chamber of the ink unit B and to permit the viscous ink to be drawn by the writing ball to the writing tip of the pen A. The

simplicity of my pen is apparent and it provides a very desirable means of supporting the removable ink unit B which is automatically moved into or out of writing position.

I claim:

1. A fountain pen having a replaceable inlr unit with a tubular body, a restricted forward end formed on said ink unit, a writing ball mounted in the writing end of said unit, a rodlike end projecting from the rear of said unit having a ball recess formed therein, a casing for enclosing said unit, a coil spring positioned in said casing and bearing against said. unit to normally urge the same in a backward direction, a clutch formed in said casing including a collar extending around said rod-like end, a ball recess for receiving a ball on the inner surface of said casing a ball bearing for said recess, and a coil spring normally urging said collar and said ball bearing into a locking position in said recess in said rod to hold said ink reservoir unit in writing p'osition, said clutch being released by moving said collar against the action of said spring to relieve the ball bearing from the recess in said rod whereupon the coil spring at the front of said ink unit forces said ink unit in a backward direction in said casing to conceal said writing point Within said casing.

2. A capless fountain pen comprising a writing unit having a writing ball formed .on one end and having an operating rod on the other end, an annular` groove formed therein, a casing for enclosing said writing unit in which the same is removably held, a spring at the forward end of said unit for forcing said unit in a backward direction when released, a clutch at the rear end of said unit for holding said unit in writing position consisting of an annular groove formed in said casing, a ball adapted to engage said annular groove and said rst mentioned annular groove, a collar having a socket formed therein for said ball for releasing and engaging said clutch, said unit causing said spring to move said Writing unit to conceal the writing point thereof within said casing, and means for resetting said unit into writing position by pressing only on the projecting rod extending through said sleeve means and from the rear of said writing unit.

JOHN F. THULL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 865,747 Hoifman June 28, 1887 678,868 Gleason July 23, 1901 1,170,063 Heeney Feb. 1, 1916 -1,202,063 Heyn Oct. V2li, 1916 1,547,929 Lloyd July 28, 1925 1,915,985 Edwards June 27, 1933 2,123,058 Maslin July 5, 1938 2,400,679 Biro May 2l. 1946 A, FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 142,569 Switzerland Dec. 1, 1930 

